Panorama Tower in Miami Doubles Down on Optical Fiber

Miami’s Panorama Tower, the tallest building on the East Coast south of Manhattan, has doubled down on its optical fiber backbone and smart building technologies to improve occupant safety and security.
The luxury mixed-use 2.7 million square foot Tower, developed by Florida East Coast Realty (FECR), houses 821 luxury rental apartments, a Hyatt Centric boutique hotel, retail tenants, restaurants, and office spaces.
“From the very beginning, Panorama became a vision of how to properly blend the mixed use of living, working, and playing in the downtown area. One of the most important aspects of the project was to make sure that we created a seamless experience for the end user,” said Dean Warhaft, Chief Development Officer for FECR.
Behind the 85-story Panorama Tower’s endless list of occupant-centric amenities, which include a soundproof music studio, pet spa and hotel, and stadium-style cinemas, is a high-tech, robust optical fiber backbone responsible for providing an enhanced occupant experience and safety.
The new structure is an exemplary model of sophisticated smart building design. Enhanced occupant experience, flexibility, and future-proofing were key goals for the project according to Warhaft. To achieve these end goals, FECR partnered with Siemens Smart Infrastructure USA to design the Tower’s safety and building automation systems.
A key part of the project involved the installation of a dedicated high-speed fiber-optic network for building automation and security functions, which are separate from the residential network.
“We put in additional fiber backbone and additional conduit runs up the tower. We did all of that understanding that we needed to future proof the building,” said Warhaft. “We knew that there were technologies we were adding to our building through partnerships with Siemens today. But we also knew that there are other advanced technologies we may not be thinking about today that are going to make sense in the future.”
Technologies used throughout the residential, commercial and retail space unify disparate fire and life safety systems, signal third-party elevator systems to restrict end-user access by floor, and monitor and control more than 1,500 pieces of mechanical equipment throughout the complex.
Siemens’ FireFinder XLS system, which is equipped with a global voice network, acts as a comprehensive fire command center that controls fire alarm, smoke control, and containment technologies from a single platform.
When a fire is detected anywhere in the complex, the system activates alarms in less time than it takes to draw a single breath, and emergency control operations such as fire door closure, elevator capture, and air handler shut-off are immediately initiated. The system also displays critical information to first responders when they arrive at the scene to facilitate rescue operations and emergency management.
Panorama Tower’s security is monitored by Siemens cameras and controlled by the SiPass, an integrated access control system. The SiPass access control system is designed to enable remote management of doors, gates, barriers and elevators in massive high-rise complexes across multiple sites. The third-party compatible elevator control system restricts end-user access by floor and allows occupants access to select floors based on building credentials assigned by their key cards.
The ability to integrate with third-party systems was a key component to the success of the project, according to President and CEO of Siemens Smart Infrastructure USA Dave Hopping.
“Integration was key to helping bring our customer’s vision of a vertical city to life,” stated Hopping in a press release. “Our project team was able to figure out how to make several already-installed third-party systems in the Tower and neighboring hotel work cohesively with our smart building solutions. For tenants and visitors, this means being able to easily go from one part of the building to another while also being comfortable and safe.”